US3448785A

US3448785A - Hatch cover arrangement

Info

Publication number: US3448785A
Application number: US701470A
Authority: US
Inventors: Per E Hover; Svein-Ivar Qvist
Original assignee: Kvaerner Brug AS
Current assignee: Kvaerner Brug AS
Priority date: 1965-05-07
Filing date: 1968-01-29
Publication date: 1969-06-10
Anticipated expiration: 1986-06-10
Also published as: NO124822B

Description

`lune 10, 1969 P, E, HVER ET AL 3,448,785

HATCH COVER ARRANGEMENT f7? vevzof@ loe/- E, H Vef- P. E. HVER ET AL HATCH COVER ARRANGEMENT June l0, 19.69

Z of2 Sheet original Filed oct. 24, 1965 ATTORNEYS United States Patent O im. cl. Eosf 11/00, .I3/00,15/00 U.S. Cl. 160-188 3 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE In an arrangement for removing and reinstalling the sectional covers for the hatches of cargo ships and similar openings, in which the cover sections are provided at either side with rollers engaging track members extending along the respective sides of the opening, the improvement consisting in providing the track members with horizontally extending spaced pins for engagement with toothed wheels associated with at least one roller on either side of at least one cover section, whereby the entire covering and uncovering movements are effected at unifonm speed and independently of varying friction between the rollers and the track members.

This application is ra continuation of Ser. No. 504,516, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to hatch cover arrangements for cargo ships and similar horizontally extending openings, which are to be covered and uncovered by a number of cover sections extending across the hatch and adapted to be moved horizontally along the length of the hatch coaming, from and to a vertical stacking position at one end of the hatch.

A principal object of the invention is to provide an arrangement, wherein the motion of the cover sections may be achieved in such a manner as to avoid .any staggering of the individual sections .relatively to the hatch coaming, while maintaining a high covering and uncovering speed and a positive moving action on the cover sec tions right from and to their stacked position.

The hatch cover of the invention is of the type indicated, wherein each cover section is provided at either end with at least one roller adapted to cooperate with a track or rail member extending along and beyond either hatch side coaming, and wherein the cover section which, in the covered condition of Ythe hatch is situated lat the end of the hatch most distant from the place wherein the cover sections are to be stacked, is provided with driving means for the shaft of one set of rollers.

In hatch cover arrangements of the type indicated, it has been suggested to make the rollers provided on the driven shaft act as drive rollers during the motions of the cover sections, the section which is provided with such drive rollers being pushing the remainder of the sections during the uncovering motion towards the stack end of the hatch and, during the covering motion, hauling the remainder of the sections in the direction away from the stack end of the hatch. Hereby, the individual sections are coupled in yany suitable manner for the purpose of enabling such motions in either direc-tion, such as by means of cooperating hook means on `adjacent sections, or by means of .suitable abutment faces during pushing and chains, Wires or the like during hauling. Such coupling means do not form any part of the present invention, and are familiar to any man skilled in the present art.

In cases where the individual cover sections are of a particularly great Weight, or under otherwise dicult conditions, such as heavy frost, it may be that the inherent ICC frictional adherence between the drive rollers and their tracks or rails is not suicient to effect the movement, and in particular to initiate the movement of the entire mass of cover sections. On board ships, it would scarcely be possible to increase such frictional adherence, such as by sand spraying, to the effect that skidding may occur, with consequential additional wear of rollers and tracks.

In hatch cover arrangements of the type indicated, the object of the invention is achieved in a particularly simple and eicient manner lthereby that the arrangement is made to comprise a hatch coaming, a number of cover sections extending across the hatch and each provided with roller members on either end, at least one track member extending along `and beyond each of two opposite sides of the said hatch coaming for cooperation with the said roller members and being provided with a great number of horizontally extending pins in spaced relation along the length of said track members, one roller member to either side of at least one of the said cover sections being provided with tooth forming radial projections adapted to engage the said track member pins. In such an arrangement, a definite kick is obtained at the beginning of an uncovering motion of the cover, and at the same time the entire covering and uncovering motions are effected at ya completely uniform speed, independently of any varying friction between rollers and tracks or rails.

Due to the fact that the elements on the hatch coaming, which are to be engaged by the teeth of the drive rollers are made in the form of horizontally extending pins, they may also be arranged on such ramp formed portions of the tracks or rails which, as known, may be arranged in continuity of the hatch coaming rails proper, for the purpose of facilitating the transfer of the cover sections from and into horizontal position at the stack end of the hatch, thereby ensuring an effective driving engagement all along the path of the cover sections.

In order that the pin `and roller teeth arrangement should not hamper the battening of the cover, the pins to be engaged by the roller teeth may be mounted on track or rail elements of the type which is mounted for substantially vertical movement relatively to the hatch coaming, so that the engagement between pins and roller teeth is only effective when such stack element is lifted for the purpose of breaking the battening seal between cover and coaming.

The accompanying drawing schematically illustrates an embodiment of a hatch cover arrangement according to the invention, it being understood that only such parts which are essentialto the understanding of the invention are shown in detail.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a partial side view of a hatch coaming showing that end of the same which is remote from the stacking end of the cover sections.

FIGURE 2 is a plan View, corresponding to the side view of FIG. 1.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view, on the line III-III of FIG. 1.

FIGURE' 4 is a partial side view of a hatch coaming corresponding to FIGURE 1 but showing the stacking end thereof with certain of the cover sections in the course of being stacked.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view corresponding to FIGURE 4 but omitting, for clarity, the endmost cover sections and the terminal end of the ramp.

In the drawing, 1 is a hatch coaming, such as provided aboard a ship, surrounding a rectangular hatch opening into a cargo hold of the ship. The hatch is shown provided with a number of hatch cover sections 2 which, in the embodiment shown, each is provided two sets of running wheels or

rollers

3 and 4, respectively, each roller set being composed of one roller mounted on either side of the cover section, for the purpose of enabling the horizontal movement of each cover section along the top of the hatch coaming 1 during covering and uncovering of the hatch. The

rollers

3, 4 are adapted to cooperate with rails 5, mounted on the coaming 1 to either side of the hatch along the length of the same. A ramp may be provided in continuation of each rail 5 at the stack end of the hatch. The cover sections may be thereby tilted from the horizontal position, shown in the drawing, to a vertical position (FIG. 4) for stacking purposes. Such ramps may be made in the form of extensions of the rails 5, or as separate rails 5' extending parallel to and beyond the rails 5.

For the purpose of moving the cover sections, the shaft 6 of the rollers 3 of that section which, in the covering position is situated at the hatch end remote from the stack end, is provided with rotational drive means, such as an electric motor provided with a suitable gear means, indicated schematically at 6 in FIG. 3. Further, each cover section 2 is, at the end abutting an adjacent cover section, provided with cooperating coupling means, schematically indicated at 7, such as in the form of hook elements, so that the driving section may haul the remainder of the sections along and push the same, during covering and uncovering motions, respectively. In addition, the sections may be interconnected in the usual manner by means of a chain 8 to either side of the coaming 1.

Cooperating cleat means 9 of any suitable form are mounted on the coaming end sections, respectively.

In the arrangement of the invention, at least one of the rollers 3 mounted at either end of the drive shaft 6, is provided with teeth 10. The rails 5, and the ramp rails 5' arranged in continuation of the same, are provided with corresponding tooth elements in the form of pins 11 and 11', respectively. The toothed wheels 10 will cooperate with the pins 11, in the form of a track of projections, when the shaft 6 is rotating, and thereby secure the movement of the sections, independently of the friction conditions between the rollers 3 and the rails 5. As shown in FIG. 2, two parallelly disposed

toothed wheels

10 and 10 are arranged in the embodiment shown, the ramp rails 5 being situated outside of the rails 5, in the manner described in British Patent No. 1,015,869. The toothed wheels 10 engage the pins 11 of the ramp rails 5. In the event the ramp is arranged in the same vertical plane at the end of each rail 5, only one toothed wheel 10 would be necessary.

So that the rails 5 and the toothed wheels 10y will not interfere with the cover cleat means, and so that the cover sections may be lifted out of sealing engagement with the hatch coaming when uncovering is to be effected by movement of the cover sections, the rails 5 are mounted in the hatch coaming 1 for substantially vertical movement relative to the latter. The

rollers

3, 4 are thereby in engagement with the rails 5 merely when the sections 2 are to be moved, while the sections 2 are otherwise in sealing contact with the coaming 1. The means provided for this purpose do not form any part of the present invention and may be of any suitable type. In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the rails 5 are provided with obliquely disposed slots 12 adapted to cooperate with corresponding pins mounted on the coaming 1 and provided with profiled heads 13. A device 14 is provided at the end of the coaming 1 for vertical movement of the rails as the pins 13 cooperate with the slots 12. Lifting and lowering of the rails is thereby brought about into and out of engagement with the rollers 3, `4 so that the teeth 10 may engage the pins 11.

What is claimed is:

1. Covering apparatus for a hatch comprising:

a plurality of cover sections extending horizontally across the hatch and adapted to be moved horizontally along the length of the coaming of the hatch, to and from a vertical stacking position beyond one end of the hatch;

a pair of tracks mounted along each side of the hatch coaming near the open upper end thereof;

a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on opposite sides of each of said cover sections near each end thereof for solely supporting the weight of said sections and adapted to ride on one of said pair of tracks;

the other of said pair of tracks comprising a plurality of laterally extending, horizontally spaced projections;

a toothed wheel rotatably mounted on opposite sides of one of said cover sections remotest from said one end of said hatch, each of said toothed wheels being mounted near the end of said one of said cover sections remotest from said one end of said hatch, and each of said wheels being engageable with said other of said pair of tracks; and

rotational drive means for rotating said Wheels while in engagement with the projections of said other of said pair of tracks to move said cover sections along the hatch opening.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cover sections are in sealing engagement with the hatch coaming.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 further characterized by means for vertically raising said tracks, thereby lifting said cover sections out of sealing engagement from the hatch coaming to permit said horizontal movement along the hatch coaming.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 537,655 4/ 1895 Walker 182-66 2,788,849 4/1957 Lingard 160-188 2,807,461 9/1957 Nes 160-188 2,853,131 9/1958 Kummerman 160-188 3,183,874 5/1965 Barlow 160-188 X PETER M. CAUN, Primary Examiner.